Shilpa Shetty opens up about the struggles she faced while trying to make it in Bollywood as well how she coped with racism on a UK-based reality show

Shilpa Shetty has alleged that she was thrown out of projects by some producers without letting her know why she was being denied work.

“I reached a point where after a few films, my career hit a lull. I tried hard but it always felt like I was lagging behind. It’s not easy to be celebrated one moment and ignored the next. I remember there were producers, who without any reason, threw me out of their films,” Shilpa Shetty said in a post shared on the official Humans of Bombay Instagram page.

Shilpa, who made her debut in Bollywood with Baazigar in 1993, opposite none other than Shah Rukh Khan, also opened up about her journey and struggles she faced in the Hindi film industry. “I was this dark, tall and lanky child who had her life pretty much laid out for her. I’d graduate and work with my dad. Even though in my heart I wanted to do something different, something bigger and better, I never felt like I could. But when I participated in a fashion show, just for fun, I met a photographer who wanted to click my photographs,” she wrote.

Shilpa said it was a “great opportunity” to step out of her comfort zone and that the photographs came out really well, opening up the doors of modelling for her. “Soon, I got offered my first film. There was no looking back from there, I was going onwards and upwards. But nothing worth having comes easy. I was all of 17 when I entered the industry, I hadn’t seen the world or even understood life. With all the success came scrutiny. I wasn’t ready for it,” she said.

A post shared by Humans of Bombay (@officialhumansofbombay) on May 19, 2019 at 5:28am PDT

Shilpa was a target of racism and bullying by some of her housemates in Big Brother, the UK reality show she participated in and won a few years ago. These included Jade Goody, Jo O’Meara and Danielle Lloyd. On facing racism, she said: “I had stood up not just for myself, but for all of those who had faced racism. My life has been filled with ups and downs. There were terrible times, but there have also been some great accomplishments. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it! It’s made me who I am today - a strong independent woman, a proud actor, a wife and a mother. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”